Speedway honors veterans on July 4

One of the best nights of the season fittingly took place on July 4 at the Shawano Speedway as local racing heroes paid tribute to the true heroes — veterans.

Salute to the Veterans night would not have fireworks in the sky, but the oohs and aahs were definitely present as the racing action was spectacular. Over 30 veterans went home with some amazing prizes and five drivers went home with custom Salute to the Veterans hardware for their feature wins.

The IMCA Stock Car division started the night off in fine fashion with Mike Schmidt jumping to an early lead. Chucky Forstner captured the top spot on lap four and looked to run away with the main event until caution flew on lap eight.

On the restart, Jeremy Christians took the lead from Forstner only to have Forstner wrestle it back a lap later. Christians regained the top spot a lap later and dominated the final half of the race to pick up the win.

Forstner finished with a solid runner up spot with Travis Van Straten taking third and Trent Nolan fourth. Schmidt rounded out the top five.

The Sport Mod division continued to provide some amazing racing with an incredible three-way battle for the win.

Bryce Clements looked like his bad luck was finally behind him as he took the top spot from Dylon Waldvogel on lap five. Jeff Schmuhl worked the high side of the track to challenge Clements but never was able to grab the lead. Matthew Radtke joined the battle on lap eight.

The cast of characters would be reset on a lap nine caution as Jayden Schmidt joined for the final act. Clements, Radtke and Schmidt put on an amazing three-car dance at the front of the pack, with Schmidt grabbing the point on lap 16. Clements retired from the event with radiator issues on lap 16 and his spot in the dance was filled by Jeffrey Teske.

Schmidt handled all competitors to grab the win with Radtke, Teske and Zachary Raab taking top four spots.

The Late Model division saw Tom Naeyeart take the point from Joe Reuter on lap three and begin to assert himself as the car to beat. Justin Ritchie began to use the low side of the track to reel Naeyeart in lap by lap.

On lap eight, Ritchie powered to the lead. While Ritchie was running the low side, Mike Mullen was flying on the high side. Mullen rode the berm to near perfection, grabbing the top spot on lap 13 and set sail to a dominating win.

Ritchie settled for second with Troy Springborn powering to third. Naeyeart settled in with a fourth-place finish and Reuter grabbed fifth.

Marcus Yarie looked to pick up another win in the IMCA Modified division, taking control on lap three from Adam Reed. Reed kept pace with Yarie until Lucas Lamberies grabbed the runner up spot on lap nine.

As the race proceeded it looked as if Lamberies would run out of laps before catching Yarie. However, a lap 15 caution eliminated the gap and pull Lamberies into the battle. Lamberies and Yarie were joined by Wyatt Block in a spirited battle with Block briefly taking the top spot.

Lamberies wrestled the lead from Block and Yarie on lap 18 and secure his second feature win in as many weeks. Yarie settled for second with Block third. Jordan Bartz took the fourth spot with Jerry Wilinski fifth.

The Mighty Fours once again provided a caution-free feature event with William Hoefs taking the early lead.

Calvin Stueck powered his way to the lead on lap four and never looked back, picking up an emotional win. Stueck found out during the night that a family member had lost their battle to cancer and honored them with a win.

Brad Wedde drove into the runner up spot with points leader Tanner Westphal finishing third. Austin Pingel and Clint Malueg completed the top five.

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For full results and point standings, visit https://www.myracepass.com/profile/?r=1874&rt=track.